Carlos Alcaraz did a short feature for the ATP during his stay at the 2024 Wimbledon Championships, and he named Holger Rune the biggest trash talker on the ATP Tour.
The sport is not as associated with trash-talking as some other sports, like basketball, which is very loud and very much a talky sport. Tennis is quiet; from the players to the audience, it is played in silence.
There isn’t a lot of talking back and forth between players during a match, even though it does happen every now and then. We’ve seen some really tense moments on the tennis courts, but generally, it’s a sport that is really quiet.
That’s during the matches, but there is a fair bit of chirping during the practices because nobody is looking. Most of that is in a well-natured competitive spirit, but trash-talking is a skill in itself.
Some have it; some don’t; some are better at it, and it takes time to get good at it. According to Alcaraz, Holger Rune is, to him, the biggest trash talker on the ATP Tour.
Alcaraz’s proclamation is funny, though, mostly because the Spaniard knows the young Dane so well. They grew up on the tennis courts, having played each other for years in the juniors.
They’re now both pros and have played three matches on the ATP Tour as well, so Alcaraz is one of the rare players who can actually compare Rune’s evolution from juniors to professionals.
Unfortunately, the feature didn’t ask Alcaraz to expand on his opinion, but he did qualify the statement by admitting that it was his opinion, which we can tie back to him knowing Rune for so many years and growing up with him.
So far, their matches haven’t featured any arguments, but Rune previously clashed with Stan Wawrinka, when after their incident, her famously asked the Swiss player whether he had ‘nothing to say now’.
When you think about trash-talking generally, you might think of players like Nick Kyrgios, who generally talks a lot and has a history of really harsh remarks to the media.
You might also think of someone like Daniil Medvedev, who is very creative with words and has had some funny moments captured on camera, such as the incident with Stefanos Tstitsipas.
Or you might think of some other player who might go unnoticed, like Roger Federer, who was notoriously misbehaved in his youth—allegedly.
But for Alcaraz, it’s Rune, and he apologized for name-dropping him. We’ll see whether Rune returns with some lighthearted jab at Alcaraz, as they’re known to have a solid relationship dating back to their junior days.
